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“I
don’t know what started it. I know we were in a pack drafting, just
trying to learn the cars and what this aero package is doing. Some guys
started forming a line on the inside and things
started getting a little more aggressive at that point. Somebody must
have turned or got turned or something and then they just all started
stacking up.”

WE
HEARD JIMMIE (JOHNSON) TALKING ABOUT THE LACK OF CARS YOU GUYS HAVE.
HOW DETRIMENTAL IS THIS WHEN TWO HENDRICK CARS GET TIED UP LIKE THIS?
“Obviously, they look like the really smart guys in the garage by not
drafting. Everybody has different theories on it. We feel like we have
to go get in those conditions and find out now what we have to deal
with to be prepared when we come back here in
February, even putting yourself in jeopardy. We will get this car fixed
up no problem. It is definitely going to cause some extra work.”

HOW SURPRISED ARE YOU THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN?“I’m
not surprised at all. We see it every year, maybe not quite this big,
but you get down here in packs. It’s important to be in those packs and
learn what you can learn, especially with a new car.
I think you can kind of weigh into both sides of it. You know when the
cars are starting to push and move around a lot more that the chances
are getting higher that something is going to happen. There are some
rookies out there as well. I saw some things
happen a couple of laps before that. You just ride it out and hope you
can make it through it. Unfortunately, we didn’t in this case.”

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?“The
cars drive pretty well. You can’t push. Which I think is a good
thing. The bad thing is, you can still get to the guys bumper, but the
cars just don’t line up very well. You really just shouldn’t
even be doing it. Unfortunately, that is kind of that last little bit
of momentum that you need to sometimes make the pass or make your lane
move. So, it’s something that is going to have to be dealt with very
carefully. You are going to have to be cautious
when you do it and do it with the right guys, but most of the time
you’re going to need to stay away from it. That is certainly something
we learned. The cars really get good momentum and shifts by themselves
but they run side-by-side for a long time so it’s
not easy to complete the pass.”

CAN YOU NOT PUSH BECAUSE YOU ARE LIFTING THE GUY IN FRONT OF YOU UP?
“There
is a lack of downforce and then the bumpers just don’t line up like
they used to. Certainly, the Chevy’s they have a little bit more of a
point so they really don’t line up very good. I was
pushed by a Ford and it almost spun me. I don’t know if any of them
are really lining up that good. Especially, with this kind of downforce
that is in the cars. I think it is a great package. I love it. We
have to kind of start over again, we have gotten
so comfortable with running on one another’s bumpers, pushing and being
able to do that. You have to kind of reset a little bit and go back to
the way we used to do it where you get close and you still gain
momentum and push guys but with the air not necessarily
the bumpers.”

DALE EARNHARDT JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARD CHEVROLET SS:

WHAT HAPPENED?“We
were just out there running around. I felt like Marcus (Ambrose) was
backing up to me in (turns) one and two to get a run down the back. I
was just going to give him a push down the back straightaway
and see if he could get the lead. I was trying to eventually get the
lead myself. We got off the back straightaway and were just kind of
pushing him along there and our cars sort of just didn’t match up very
well. I got him hooked into the fence. I pushed
Martin (Truex) a little bit in his Toyota and they matched up good.
The bumpers were good, didn’t have any problem with any of the cars.
That is the first time I pushed a Ford. The roll bar of the front of my
car is just at the right place where his car
sets right up on top of that. I sort of had him going down the back
straightaway like a forklift. It was a big mess and tore up a lot of
cars down here trying to work on their stuff. Definitely the drafting
is not like it used to be. You can’t really tandem
certain cars; certain cars don’t match up well. Our bumpers on the
Chevy’s have a little bit of a point. It makes it a little bit of a
challenge to get into guys and kind of help them. We definitely weren’t
doing that in the corner at all because it was
pretty hairy trying to do it on the straightaways.”

DOES THIS REALLY CHANGE THE MENTALITY HERE NOW?
“Pretty much, yeah. It’s going to take a lot more care and
concentration and just knowing kind of what is at stake. Certain cars
you line up okay with and can push fine and for whatever reason mine and
Marcus’ (Ambrose) car didn’t line up good. We got our
bumpers together and it hooked him. For whatever reason you’ve got to
be careful who you are working with.”

DO YOU THINK THE RACING IS GOING TO BE BETTER?
“Yeah, I think the racing will be better because it doesn’t look like we
will be able to tandem. The cars are down 50 percent on downforce in
the back. They are real tail happy. A lot of guys are really having a
lot of snaps and moments out there on the
race track where they are getting loose. With that in mind you are
definitely not going to be pushing anybody through the corner.”

BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS WHEN YOU WERE DOMINATING PLATE RACES?“Well
I’m not setting it up to say I’m going to run better because of this
package, but the racing will be different. It’s definitely a movement
back toward the way the cars used to be.”

DID IT SURPRISE YOU THAT ALL OF THIS UNFOLDED AN HOUR INTO IT AND THAT THE CARS DIDN’T MATCH UP?
“Yeah, I was real surprised. Marcus’ (Ambrose) car was a bit of a
handful. He was really loose into the corner and off of the corner, but
I thought we were just going to get on going down the back
straightaway. He was going to drive to the inside of the
leader and take the lead. For whatever reason it just didn’t work.”

IS THIS A FORD REAR TO A CHEVY NOSE THING? OR IS THIS A MARCOS AMBROSE AND DALE (EARNHARDT) JR. THING?“No,
it’s not really between me and him. He didn’t do anything wrong. I
think it was my responsibility not to wreck him. He doesn’t have much
control at that point. That was the first Ford I had pushed.
I don’t know. You don’t want to push too many Ford’s if you can help
it.”

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S CHEVROLET SS:

WHAT HAPPENED FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE?
“I really don’t know. I was two or three rows back. I just saw the No.
9 get turned and then obviously it was just a wreck. I was along for
the ride after that.”

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED OUT THERE TODAY?“The
first drafting session we were really loose. The cars drove okay not
really around people. When I got someone in front of me, beside me and
behind me, the car was really unstable. We worked on
tightening the car up for the second draft. I never really got to put
myself in the same situation again. I felt like we learned some stuff.”

About Me

Matt Myftiu is news editor at The Oakland Press and has been working at the Press for the past nine years. He knows a ridiculous amount about both NASCAR and technology, and will share his wisdom on those topics with you via his Beyond the Track and Tech Time blogs.
Follow him on Twitter @MattMyftiu, and visit the Facebook pages NASCARBeyond and OPTechTime.
He can be reached via email at matt.myftiu@oakpress.com.